Building native apps from JavaScript using Appcelerator Titanium

An interview with John Anderson

In this interview, the author of Appcelerator Titanium: Up and Running describes how Titanium can be used to generate native mobile apps from JavaScript code. He distinguishes the Titanium platform from native API programming and from other popular JavaScript platforms for mobile devices. We look at the way Titanium exploits the expressiveness and flexibility of JavaScript, and some of the directions that the Appcelerator company is taking Titanium.
Highlights from the full video interview include:

Why Titanium is a good substitute for programming with native mobile APIs. [Discussed at the 0:14 mark]

The particular value of supporting native controls on Android platforms. [Discussed at the 2:04 mark]

The compatibility layer: a wrapper created by John to hide differences between iOS and Android. [Discussed at the 4:15 mark]

Extending Titanium through the marketplace of plug-ins to do interesting things such as bar-code scanning and access to social media. [Discussed at the 5:59 mark]

Extending Titanium through the object model provided by JavaScript, a widely known language that provides great flexibility and allows a programmer to build custom controls out of native controls. [Discussed at the 7:31 mark]

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